When medical personnel use medical equipment with a control panel, such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, it is important that the control panel is able to move flexibly, especially when performing an examination in different postures. The control panel should be cable of a full floating movement, including up-and-down motion, forward-and-backward translation, left-and-right translation, and rotation.
In a traditional control panel, the up-and-down movement and the rotation of the control panel can be achieved primarily in two ways. The first way uses a separate lifting mechanism (in a vertical plane) and a separate forward-and-backward translation and rotation mechanism (in a horizontal plane). In this structure, the up-and-down motion and the forward-and-backward translation and rotation are respectively achieved by two separate mechanisms. The lifting mechanism occupies a large space, and the left-and-right translation of the control panel cannot be achieved. Accordingly, the range of motion of the control panel is limited. The second way uses a separate lifting mechanism (in a vertical plane) and a separate “frog leg” mechanism (in a horizontal plane). The frog leg mechanism is a modified parallel four-bar linkage, of which the fixed end includes tow rotatable pivots which can bring four arms to move. The control panel is fixed at the ends of two arms. This way, the forward-and-backward translation, left-and-right translation and rotation in certain ranges can be achieved. However, in this floating mechanism, the lifting motion and the translation and rotation in a horizontal plane are achieved separately and there is no linkage therebetween.